Doom: Prizrakov
by rika08
Summary: title: Ghosts. (Russian...hint hint!) Hell is not all fire and brimstone. It isn't a burning pit of flames and smoke. Hell is cold and dark. It is demons living within the darkness, waiting, preying on you. They feed on your fear, thrive on it, and use it against you. For the living; Hell is Olduvai. SEQUAL!
1. Chapter 1

Hell is not all fire and brimstone. It isn't a burning pit of flames and smoke. Hell is cold and dark. It is demons living within the darkness, waiting, preying on you. They strike when you least expect them to. They feed on your fear, thrive on it, and use it against you. They torment you to the brink of death and drag you back to torture you further. Hell isn't a place where only the dead and damned are sent. The innocent are sent without thought and suffer through the choice. Hell is place for the dead. For the living, they call it Olduvai.

O nine hundred hours marked three hours since military transport carrying RRTS 6 survivor Staff Sergeant Vera Dimitrov off base met with disastrous consequences. Preliminary investigation hypothesized the transport was sabotaged, resulting in the explosion. No survivors were reported, only casualties recovered. Scorched, torched, ash. O nine hundred also marked the twenty four hour return mark of RRTS Unit 6 from its mission to the UAC Research Facility Olduvai. Of the nine specially trained marines that left earth and forty plus scientists that were on the planet's facility on Mars, only two of the three that had survived the station, remained alive. One marine. One scientist.

Staff Sargent John Grimm was seated in the hall of one of Earth's military medical facilities, waiting outside the room. He sat hunched over in the chair. His elbows held himself up against his knees. His chin was pressed against his closed fists, while his eyes were shut tight. His mind was flooded with images ranging from twenty-four hours, to three hours ago. Dark corridors, sewage tunnels, transport station. Every face of his fallen comrades, every face of the scientists, of the monsters, all replayed through his mind. The last few moments with Vera turned his blood to ice.

"Sargent."

John opened his eyes, broken from his thoughts. He raised his head, meeting to eyes of the doctor. Immediately the fallen fell from his thoughts, bringing them back to his reason for waiting. He rose from his chair and met the doctor as he exited the room. "How is she?"

His sister, Samantha Grimm had been carried into the medical facility, by him, half dead. John had found her near the elevator, collapsed on the ground, unable to walk. Vera had given him what information she could of their course through the vents in the faculty. But the moments after being found by Sarge were minimal. Whatever had happened, though, had caused a great deal of damage.

"Your sister is resting comfortable, Sargent." the doctor explained. "We've repaired the internal damage and set her remaining injuries. She should regain feeling in her legs within a few hours, range of motion in a few days. She is stable, conscious, and she's asking to see you."

John nodded slowly. "Thank you."

The doctor simply nodded and continued on his way.

John remained rooted in the spot. He inhaled slowly, trying to regain his calm. He had spent much time in the infirmary just looking after Vera. Now that she was gone, simply being in the building without her felt hallow. He turned to the door and pushed it open. His eyes instantly fell upon Sam's battered form, lying on the bed. He swallowed painfully, the memories of Olduvai returning to his thoughts.

Sam lay on the medical bed. Her arms lay across her stomach on top of the blankets. She head was turned away from the door, facing the window. Her bright blond hair had fallen from its previous bun, falling on her shoulders. Her eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping. As he stood by her side, John noticed how fragile his sister appeared to him. His chest tightened with the same fear he'd felt when he'd found her on the ground. Sam turned her head slowly, meeting John's gaze. Her pale lips turned into a small smile. Despite her condition, John returned the small smile. He gently sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand.

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

"I was going to you the same question." she answered.

John smiled sadly. "I'm not the one in a hospital bed."

"This time." Sam reminded. "I know for a fact you've spent time in here."

John chuckled lightly.

Sam swallowed. "How's Vera?"

John lowered his eyes from Sam, lowering his face as well. His silence was all too loud to Sam. It didn't make since. She remembered Vera in the elevator with them, had she been injured so severely that she hadn't survived. She tightened her grasp on his hand.

"John-"

"Doctor said you should get feeling back in your leg within the next few days." John explained quickly. "Then we're outta here."

Sam only nodded in response. Whatever had happened, it was still too fresh in his mind to talk about. But the pain was far more than what he was letting on simply by his avoidance of the situation. Her eyes shifted from John for a moment, catching movement coming from the hall. She frowned as the door opened. "John."

John turned his head. In the hall, two upper ranking MP's stood by the door. One had his hand on the door. John recognized them from the base during their shifts. Both officers watched him while one gestured at him. A crippling feeling coursed through John's body. If they had come for him, he was royally fucked. How much more could he take before he too gave in?

"I'll be back." John said. He gave Sam's hand a comforting squeeze and rose from her bed. He walked toward the door and stepped into the hall.

The officers were waiting for him. "Staff Sargent Grimm."

"Yeah?" John asked.

"We need you to come with us." One said.

"For what?" John demanded.

"Debriefing and reassignment." The other explained.

"Bullshit." John replied. What the hell were up top thinking reassigning him so soon? Shit, they waited days after Vera had lost her unit before reassigning her to RRTS 6.

"Let's go."

The MP's escorted John from Sam's room. They stood on either side of him. As he was escorted through the halls, John surveyed the MP's. One seemed to favor his right side, possible injured untreated early on. The other had trouble retaining attention. He snorted mentally at the irony of the situation. But the irony was short lived the closer they came to their destination. Whatever had happened while RRTS 6 had been away, it sure as hell must've been important to pull him to active duty.

They reached the interrogation room and stopped. One of the officers opened the door and motioned for John to enter. John followed the suggestion and entered the room. At the other end of the room, John found himself face to face with the RRTS General. The look on the general's face told John that he wouldn't be leaving any time soon. John took a deep breath and prepared himself for war. In the back of his head he could hear Vera pleading with him to get out before it was too late. As he heard the door close behind him, John realized just how quickly _'too late' _had become.

* * *

I'M BACK! wow that wasn't long. Okay I know you all hate me for the last chapter of Doom...but did you notice the title? hope you guys enjoy this one as much as Mira and Doom!


	2. Chapter 2

Several hours after John had been taken from Sam's room, he remained in the conference room with the general. John leaned against the table, his arms were lying on top of the surface in front of him, and his eyes remained concentrated on the table. The general stood looming over John, as he had for the past several hours.

"Let me get this straight, Sargent." The general began. "At the UAC Olduvai Facility, your unit encountered a creature, mutated by a synthetic chromosome, reconstructed by Doctor Carmack and his team. Now this creature is the reason for Doctor Carmack and his team's disappearance in the facility. You also state that this creature is able to transmit from selected host to selected host through a series of neck wounds cause by its tongue.

"Now this creature, managed to take out four men within your unit before cutting through the sealed Ark door, and reaching Earth where it then spread through the UAC facility, attacking the UAC scientists. Your CO, yourself, two other unit members, and one UAC scientist returned to Earth where the everyone except you and your sister survived. The scientists were all killed, either by infection or by your CO's hand, including one member. Your sister returns in critical condition, but you, you return without so much as a scratch on your entire body." The general said.

"Yes sir." John answered. He withheld his sigh.

"That's the shittiest story I've ever heard, soldier. Do you really expect me to believe that shit and relay it up top?" he asked.

John took a deep breath. Getting into a conflict with a general was never a good idea. And with two guards posted outside the conference door, John wasn't ready to show why he wasn't injured…to anyone.

"Not only is your entire outfit dead, Grimm, but you failed in your mission entirely. The data ordered to be retrieved remains on Olduvai, the scientists are dead, and the UAC Facility lies in shambles." The general continued. "Is this your way of saying you can't perform to RRTS standards?"

John glared at his CO. He'd already had this harassment when Jumper was killed four years ago. He wasn't going to take this shit again. "If you don't believe me, go check out the facility, sir."

The general straightened his posture. "It won't be needed. We've received a transmission from inside the facility. The hazard clean up crew. All they found were bodies of UAC workers. No creatures, no demons, nothing but the crew."

John was stunned. How could there be nothing of the creatures there? He'd personally slain them all. The floors had to have been stained in their blood. There couldn't be nothing left of them. "That can't be."

"Well it is, soldier." the general replied. "Bullshit."

The general grunted the closest thing to a laugh possible. "If only, soldier. And since that transmission, UAC has ordered a full sweep of the facility **and** recovery of the data that was left behind. They've demanded another RRTS Unit to enter the facility."

John said nothing, but he could feel something was coming at him.

"CO's up top agreed that your performance, for the most part, is Gunnery Sargent material. And for your first mission, you'll be leading another RRTS Unit back into the UAC Ark Facility and perform a thorough sweep of the Facility." The general explained. He dropped a large file onto the conference desk and leaned closer to John's ear. "And if you fuck this mission up, you'll find yourself wishing you'd died with your unit on Olduvai. Understand, soldier?"

"Yes sir." John said. "Just one question."

"What?"

"How do you suggest we retrieve the data with the Arc blown?"

The general smirked. "You'll see how. Dismissed."

John rose from his chair. He grabbed the new RRTS file the general had set down in front of him. John walked from the table and out of the office. The two officers that had escorted him in were standing on either side of the door. John stalked through the hall holding back the urge to punch that prick of a general. His hand was clenched on the file tightly in his shaking hand. He walked back toward Sam's room.

Return to UAC Ark Facility. Shit. Why don't they shoot him now and get it over with? It would be easier than sending him back to hell and burying him there. Which was exactly how it was starting to sound. There was no way all evidence of those imps had been illuminated. Someone had to be covering up the situation again. Most likely the same people that created the cover story. But there was backing out of this one. No Sergeant to offer a leave to him, no partners to cover his back. No, John was non his own with this one. He was going to see this one through.

John reached the infirmary door, leading to Sam's room, and paused. He clenched his fist tightly, trying to calm down. He came to the corps because he didn't know what else to do with himself. They'd given him skills and directions and let him go. Now they only seemed concerned with progress without limitations, even if it meant sacrificing innocent people to get there. John unclenched his fist and quietly opened the door. He found Sam sleeping peacefully in her bed. Her steady heartbeat eased John's mood, if only a fraction. John closed the door and quietly made his way into the chair by Sam's bed. He smiled sadly as he watched her sleep soundly. A drastic comparison to twenty-four hours ago when they were hiding in a small storage room, waiting to die.

John reached into his leg pocket and retrieved the vial of C24. He'd taken it from the facility before searching for Sam. If UAC got their hands on the vial, Olduvai would start again, only on Earth. John let his eyes shift between Sam and the vial. He couldn't understand why Sam felt the need to bring this with them. Well, that wasn't true. The scientific side of him was very interested in what C24 could do, but he already knew the dark side. The chromosome was dangerous in the wrong hands, deadly. Sam knew the risks and she still brought it with her. Granted, it had been the one thing that saved him.

"John?" came a soft mumble.

John looked up to see Sam coming to. "How're you feeling?"

Sam shrugged. "I hate infirmaries."

John snorted, but a harp pain hit him in the heart. "You and someone I used to know."

Sam watched her brother closely. His entire demeanor shifted in seconds. His eyes were distance, as if he were staring into the past miles from where he was. She hated to see her brother in this state. She had seen it when they were growing up after the accident. She wanted to help him, but she also didn't want to cause more harm than good. Sam swallowed slowly. "John, what happened?"

John took a breath and glanced toward the door. "They're sending me back to Olduvai."

That was not what Sam was expecting. "They're what?"

"They're sending me in with another RRTS unit. They want that data." John explained.

"No! No!" Sam yelled. "They can't send you back there! Not after what's happened. Those creatures in the facility-"

"Are gone." he answered.

Sam was silent, waiting for him to continue

"Every trace of them is gone." John explained. "Someone's covering up everything. They want to data on those disks."

"They want C24." Sam whispered.

John nodded and lifted the vial. Sam's eyes quickly fell to the canister. "I can't let them start this shit again, Sam."

"What will you do?" she asked.

"I'm gonna go and destroy every piece in data on Carmack's experiments." he explained.

"They'll kill you." Sam said.

John smirked. "They can try." He pressed the vial into Sam's hands. "I need to guard this one. As soon as I'm back, we destroy it."

Sam nodded slowly. "Just make sure you and Vera keep each other alive."

John looked away instantly. "Vera's not coming, Sam."

Sam frowned. "Where is she?"

John closed his eyes. He hadn't had time to fully accept what had happened to her. Suddenly it was washing over him in waves. "She's gone. Her transport was sabotaged this morning. There were no survivors."

Sam was stunned. "John...I'm so sorry."

John nodded slowly. He opened his eyes and looked up at Sam. "She said something before she left. Said, 'go find some small town in need of a moody doctor'. So I say once we end this shit we do just that. Together."

Sam nodded, clutching the vial close. "Sounds like a plan."

With a heavy sigh, John rose from his chair. "I need to go. Got a unit to meet and a mission to sabotage. You rest up and I'll see you when I get back."

Sam reached out and grabbed his hand. "Be careful."

John squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. "See you soon."

* * *

yay next chapter! gotta love a power hungry co.


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